Being Feline
by Michea
Summary: When Aidan goes out of town for the week, Josh and Sally find themselves adopted by a new pet… but everything is not as it seems.


_**Adoption**_

Sally drifted around the house, pretending to run her fingers along the surfaces – the perfectly clean, almost sterile, surfaces. With Aidan away, there was nothing to regulate Josh's obsessive quest for cleanliness and even with Josh pulling double-shifts every second day, the house was still immaculately clean and tidy – almost irritatingly so.

She wandered down the stairs and paused at the landing, tipping her head to one side and frowning. There on the windowsill – on _her _windowsill – was a small black-and-white cat. The glossy black kind with a pure white tuxedo-chest and face, and neat white socks.

Sally smiled and approached the cat slowly. The cat opened one eye and regarded her in a bored manner for a moment, then appeared to go back to sleep.

"Hey, kitty," Sally crooned. "Hey little cat."

The cat stirred again, stretching one paw in a nonchalant manner and showing her claws almost as an afterthought. The she flopped over onto one side to expose her sleek black flank to the sunlight pouring through the window.

"Where did you come from? Did Josh let you in?" Sally folded herself gracefully into the little alcove and reached a hand towards the cat, running her palm through the fur. Sally liked cats, and even if she couldn't really stroke this one, it didn't hurt to pretend.

She gazed out the window at the damp streets. She could no longer feel the cold rain or the thin autumn sunshine, but she still enjoyed sitting in the sunny alcove and pretending to soak up the glass-magnified rays like her feline companion. She looked down as she realised the cat had begun purring, and snatched her hand away.

The cat opened both eyes and shot her an annoyed glance as if to say 'why'd you stop?'

Sally frowned. She stretched her hand out warily again and resumed the back and forth movement. The cat settled and began purring again: 'now that's more like it.'

"Oh-kay..." Sally murmured, eyes wide. "That's just weird."

# # #

Josh closed the front door and leaned against it, his eyes closed. He was more tired than he could ever remember being. It was always this way at the new moon and for all his faults, Josh had to agree with Ray on one point: the closer the moon waxed towards full, the better he felt.

He opened his eyes and pushed away from the door, dropping his back-pack on the table.

"Hey," he called.

"Hey..."

He turned to greet Sally and frowned. "How long have we had a cat?"

"You tell me..."

"Huh?"

"You didn't let her in?"

Josh shook his head. "I take it you didn't either?" Sally raised a derisive eyebrow at him. "Right," he said. "Sorry, wasn't thinking..."

The cat stood on her toes and arched her back, then pushed her rump in the air and stretched her front paws, tilting her head to one side as she did it. Then she jumped down from the now-dark window-sill and trotted into the kitchen, sitting in front of the refrigerator expectantly. When nobody moved, she stared at Josh and voiced a loud meow.

"Umm, okay," said Josh. He opened the door and took out some milk, pouring it into a bowl and setting it on the floor.

"I don't think milk is actually that good for cats," Sally commented.

Josh watched as the little cat lapped at the bowl, emptying it in under a minute. "I don't think _she_ knows that."

Apparently satisfied with milk for the time being, the cat sat back and began to wash her face and paws. She paused as if listening to something, then flattened her ears against her skull, hissed and dashed up the stairs.

Josh shot Sally a look. "What was that all about?"

Sally shrugged and opened her mouth just as a knocked sounded at the door. Her expression darkened. "That'll be Danny," she said. "He left a message on the answering machine to say he'd be over later to look at the radiator."

"Great," Josh murmured unenthusiastically.

Sally glanced up the stairs and back at Josh. "That cat has the right idea," she told him, disappearing.

# # #

Josh leaned against the kitchen bench, chewing his cereal and watching the cat watching him. "What?" He said after a while.

The cat leapt silently onto the bench and patted at a cupboard door with her paw.

"Alright, I'll bite," Josh murmured, setting aside his breakfast. He opened the cupboard and looked in. "See anything you like?" He asked, drily.

The cat stood on her back legs, reached up and patted at a large tin of tuna-fish.

"You want this?" Josh asked. The cat sat down again and stared at him expectantly. "Huh-uh, I was going to make tuna noodle casserole with this."

The cat meowed at him.

"No," Josh told her firmly. "Tuna noodle casserole, _not_ cat food."

When he returned from the store with the morning paper, fresh milk and a variety of cat foods, the cat was waiting for him.

"Here," he said, pulling the ring-pull of one can and setting it on the floor. The cat sniffed at the food then glanced at the man. 'Surely you don't expect me to eat this?' Her expression seemed to say.

Josh sighed, picked up the tin and scooped the contents into a bowl before returning it to the floor. He raised his eyebrows at the cat. "Better, your highness?" The cat appeared to glare at him, then turned and stalked out of the kitchen. "Suit yourself," Josh muttered. He switched on the oven before taking out butter, flour and mushroom soup mix to start the tuna casserole.

# # #

Sally chewed on her thumb nail and looked at Josh, then at the cat, and back at Josh again. The cat watched Josh eating his tuna noodle casserole – while Josh studiously ignored her – lashing her tail all the while.

"Look, will you just give her some?" Sally said eventually.

"I gave her something to eat, she wouldn't eat it!"

"Yeah, I saw," said Sally. She hunkered down and grimaced at the untouched cat food in the bowl. "Be honest," she said, straightening up. "Would _you _eat this?"

"I am not a cat!"

"How can you be so cruel? The poor thing is starving..."

"She's not starving..."

"Josh..."

"Alright, _fine!_" He dumped the cat food out into the trash and reached for the casserole.

"In a clean bowl!"

"She's a cat!" Josh glared fiercely at the ghost for a moment, then rolled his eyes and found a clean bowl in the cupboard, ladled some of the tuna and gravy into it, and held it up for inspection.

"Thank you," said Sally, smiling sweetly.

He set the bowl on the floor and the cat fell to eating as though she hadn't seen food in a week.

"Aw, you see, she _was _starving!"

# # #

Josh tasted the soup and set the wooden spoon aside. "Don't touch that," he admonished Little Cat, who was perched on the kitchen bench, her nose twitching as she leant over the stove. "You'll burn your whiskers off."

He looked up as a key rattled in the lock.

"Better get her off the bench," Sally told him.

"Right." Josh lifted the cat and deposited her on the floor. "Time for you to meet Aidan!" He said brightly.

"Time for _who _to meet Aidan?" The vampire called from the hall. "Don't tell me you invited another one of your werewolf buddies to stay..." he trailed off and stared, his mouth open, as he walked into the kitchen.

"I know," said Josh, moving to head off his friend. "I know we're not supposed to have pets in the house but she's really clean and doesn't leave much fur on the couch..."

"What are you _talking_ about...?" Aidan spluttered, still staring past Josh into the kitchen. Sally followed his gaze, her mouth dropping open in an identical expression of astonishment.

Josh turned slowly. On the other side of the kitchen table – naked, with her arms crossed over her breasts – stood the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her hair fell long and glossy black past her shoulders and her eyes were brilliant green. She chewed her full bottom lip sheepishly.

"Hey, Josh," she murmured. "Sally..." She started to turn to the newcomer. "You must be Aidan..." his name died on her lips and she gave an inarticulate squeak, transforming immediately into a small black-and-white cat and streaking out the door, past her astonished companions.

"She turned into a woman!" Josh gasped.

"I know, right!"

"Uh... no," put in Aidan. "She turned into a _cat_..."

# # #

"You're a cat..."

"Yes."

"And you're also a woman..."

"_Yes_, Josh."

"You're a shape-shifter," said Aidan.

The woman glanced in his direction without looking directly at him. "Yes," she said. "I am."

"What's your name?" Asked Sally.

The woman blinked at her, surprised. "I don't _have _a name."

"_Everyone_ has a name..."

"Not me," she said.

"But... your parents..." said Josh. "Didn't your parents...?"

"I never knew my father," the woman told him. "My mother never gave us individual names. Other than 'the big one', 'the little one'... 'the ugly one.' 'The dead one.' "

"Huh?"

"Seriously?" Sally exclaimed.

The woman shook her head. "Humans," she murmured. "So obsessed with names."

"Uh, _not _humans," said Josh. "_She's_ a ghost, _he's_ a vampire, _I'm_ a werewolf..."

Aidan was beginning to smile. "You're not a _woman_ who changes into a _cat_," he said slowly. "You're a _cat_... that changes into a _woman_."

"What?" Josh whipped his head around.

"Holy shit..." Sally squeaked.

The woman raised an eyebrow at them. "Duh..." she said.

Aidan pressed his lips together, looking away. The woman watched him carefully and shifted her position on the couch, as though preparing to flee. The vampire looked back at her, his lips twitched into a half smile. She stared back.

"Cat-shifters," he murmured. "Who knew?"

"What are we supposed to call you?" Asked Sally.

"Yeah, we can't keep calling you Little Cat..."

"That was _so_ lame, you have _no_ imagination..."

"I didn't hear _you_ making any suggestions..."

"Catherine," said Aidan, cutting off their bickering. "Cat for short."

"Hey, that's cute, I like it!" Said Sally, beaming at the woman.

Cat looked at each of the others in turn, then rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"Oh, and you should probably stay out of the way when Danny comes over," Sally told her. "He..."

"Hates cats, I know," said Cat. "I can smell an ailurophobe a mile off."

"Hey," said Josh, sitting forward. "Why do cats always seem to, you know, jump all over people who hate them?" Cat raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, not me, I love cats. My sister hates them, though, and she's like a cat-magnet."

Cat grinned at him. "We like messing with them..."

"I knew it!"

"The polite ones are the funniest," she told them. "You know, the ones who don't want to offend anyone by shoving the precious puss off their laps? So they just sit there and take it while their skin is practically crawling off their flesh!" Cat laughed delightedly. "Seriously, though, I know to keep out of Danny's way," she said. "That man would just as soon put a boot in my ribs as look at me." She eyed Sally. "You know he killed you, right?"

"I know..."

"How did _you_ know?" Aidan asked.

Cat looked at him carefully for a moment. "I didn't until just now," she told him. "But he is a nasty piece of work and I know evil people when I see them." Her expression softened as she looked at each of them in turn. "I know good people too," she said.

"Oh, we're pillars of the community," Josh said drily.

"No, really," Cat said. She smiled. "Why do think I adopted you?"

"No," Josh said slowly. "_We_ adopted _you_."

Cat leaned over and patted Josh's hand. "That's right," she said. "Keep telling yourself that."

_**Can all birds fly?**_

Cat lay on the floor on her stomach and pawed through Aidan's wallet. She pulled out his driver's license and flipped onto her back, holding it up in the air.

"It says here your name is 'Ian Daniel McCollin'," she said. She turned her head on the side and looked up at Aidan. "So why do we call you 'Aidan'?"

"_Ia_n... _Dan_iel... Ai-dan," he shrugged. "I don't know, it's just always been Aidan."

"It suits you," Sally put in. "I like Aidan better than Ian…"

"Me too," said Cat. "Ian is so _dorky_!"

"Thank you," said Aidan. He leaned over and held his hand out. "Can I have my wallet back now?"

"It also says you're an organ donor," Cat raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously?"

"All the better to blend in and appear human," he told her, making a beckoning gesture. "Wallet?"

Cat slipped the driver's license back into its pocket and handed the wallet over. She stretched her hands and feet in the air and inspected her finger nails, painted bright red with some old nail polish of Sally's she'd found. She was wearing an old shirt of Josh's and a pair of Aidan's athletic socks and boxer shorts. The underwear was held with a safety pin at her tiny waist.

Josh looked over the top of the medical journal he was reading and narrowed his eyes at Cat. "You can read?" He asked.

She glanced at him. "So can you," she said.

"And, for that matter, talk," he said, setting the journal aside.

"Once again, so can you."

"Yeah, but you're a..."

"Cat?" Cat finished for him. "Doesn't mean I'm a moron."

"Can _all_ cats talk?"

"Can all birds _fly_?"

"Is this why you won't eat cat food?"

"Would you?"

"Well, no. But..."

"There you go," she said. "There _are _some cats out there stupid enough to eat whatever is put in front of them, but _I_ am not one of them."

"So," said Sally, settling on the floor next to Cat. "When did you start shape-shifting?"

"When I hit puberty..." she trailed off, noting their startled expressions. "_Cat _puberty," she went on.

"Right," said Josh. "Cat puberty."

"When I was, like, five months old and started estrus... Went into heat for the first time..."

"Ohhhhh..."

"Yeah, now you get it." Cat rolled her eyes. "Anyway, the Toms started hassling me and I didn't want to... you know... and it just happened."

"You shifted," said Aidan. "Into a human."

"Pretty much," she agreed. "Look, it's not like I was going to get raped or anything. A female cat has to hold still and take it, you know? A male can't just force her... did you know humans are the only animals that commit rape?"

"Huh," said Josh. "I never really thought about it like that."

"Of course you didn't," said Cat.

"_I_ did," said Sally.

Cat nodded. "See, cats and women... really not all that different."

Aidan grinned at that. He'd heard that same comparison made before, many times.

_**Home Cooking**_

Aidan dropped his keys in the bowl. "Hello!" He called.

"In the kitchen," Cat called back.

"Human today," Aidan murmured. He could smell browned meat, paprika and onions. "Josh?" He called, taking off his jacket.

"Just me," called Cat.

Aidan frowned and went into the kitchen.

Standing at the stove, one hand on her hip and the other stirring a pot with the wooden spoon, was Cat. She was outfitted in a red-and-white gingham sleeveless dress – held out with what looked to be tulle petticoats – under a starched white apron and fire-engine red stiletto heels. Her hair was curled into fat ringlets and pinned away from her face, and she'd made her face up with pancake makeup, kohl eyeliner and bright red lipstick.

"Uh... what are you doing?"

"Uh... I'm cooking?" Cat suggested, copying his tone exactly.

"And... why are you dressed like Alice the Kinky Housewife?"

Cat fixed him with a withering look. "How else am I supposed to..." she glanced at the laptop on the bench, reading directly off a web page "... 'Embrace My Inner Domestic Goddess'?" She asked.

Aidan nodded slowly. "How indeed?"

"Here, taste this!" Cat offered him the wooden spoon, holding her hand underneath it to catch the drips.

"Cat, you know I don't eat..."

"Oh, pfft," she said, blowing a raspberry at him. "You don't have to _swallow_; you just have to _taste_..."

"Okay... okay!" He gave up backing away from her and did as he was told. "Very nice..." he managed.

"It's goulash..."

"I never doubted it for a minute." He looked past her and frowned. "Isn't that my laptop?"

"Yes, and I do so appreciate you letting me borrow it," Cat smiled.

"Funny, I don't remember giving you permission..."

"You didn't... oh, Josh! Taste this!" She held the wooden spoon out as he walked in.

Josh took the spoon and tasted the goulash gravy. His face underwent a transformation. "Oh my God, that is _divine_!"

Cat raised an eyebrow in Aidan's direction. "See?" She said.

"Hang on, why are you dressed like..."

"Don't ask." Aidan cut him off.

"Since when do you know how to cook?"

"Since, always?"

"You said you _couldn't _cook."

"No, I said I _didn't_ cook," she corrected, taking back the spoon and rinsing it at the sink before stirring the goulash again. "What would be the point? _You_ cook."

"Right..." said Josh. "And now?"

"And now I feel like cooking." She shrugged. "You see how this works?"

"Not really," said Josh. "But... carry on."

# # #

Sally perched on the sink and watched as Cat stood in the bath and stretched high to scrub at the walls.

"I don't know why you bother," Sally told her. "This place has never been cleaner since Josh moved in." She looked around and grimaced. "He's, like, completely OCD about it, it's almost_ too_ clean."

"There is no such thing as 'too clean'," Cat told her. She'd removed the stilettos and stood on her scarlet-painted tippy-toes, holding her skirts away from the damp tiles with one hand while scrubbing with the other. Eventually, she threw the scrubbing brush down in disgust and climbed out of the tub. "How..." she began, stepping back into the stilettos "... am I supposed to clean effectively and keep my clothes from getting splattered with bleach? How the hell do women do _anything _dressed like this?"

"_Nobody _has dressed like _that_ since the 1950's," Sally giggled. "Except for fancy-dress parties, maybe…"

Cat fixed her with a stern look, her hands on her hips. "And when _exactly_ were you going tell me this?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I _love_ your outfits! I wish I could change my clothes," Sally told her, plucking at her pale grey cardigan. "And watching the guys pretendthey're_ not_ checking out your legs has been _very _amusing..."

Cat frowned and smoothed her skirts. She stuck one leg out and turned it this way and that, admiring the shape of her calf.

"But most people just wear sweats when they're cleaning," Sally went on.

"Sweats?" Cat said doubtfully, looking in the mirror and imagining herself wearing gym gear. She pulled her hair into an experimental pony-tail. "Would I still look beautiful in sweats?"

"Sure, there's heaps of cute stuff out there..."

"Let's go shopping then!" Cat peeled of the rubber gloves she'd been wearing and dropped them into the bath, stalking out of the bathroom to find the patent-leather handbag which matched her shoes.

"You have money?" Sally asked.

"Of course not," said Cat. She waved a small plastic card at Sally. "I have _this_."

Sally peered at the card, her mouth dropping open. "That's Aidan's VISA card!" She spluttered.

"Yes, I borrowed it..."

"You can't just..."

"I'll give it back," Cat told her, rolling her eyes. "Come on..."

# # #

Josh eyed Cat, sprawled on the couch reading a fitness magazine with her hair pulled into a tight ponytail and sporting a brand-new Adidas outfit.

"Embracing your inner gym-junkie, now?" He asked.

Cat looked up and nodded brightly, flashing a charming smile. Josh raised his eyebrows at Aidan.

"I don't hate the new look," the vampire told him with a shrug.

"I preferred Alice the Kinky Housewife," Josh replied.

_**Fun in the Sun**_

"How was your day, dear?" Sally quipped.

Aidan grinned and lowered himself to the stone step next to her. "More fun than you could possibly imagine," he drawled. "Are you playing 'spot the weirdo' again?"

"Yeah, check this guy out," she lifted her chin at a man across the street. "He has been sweeping those steps for, like, an hour." She raised her voice and shouted at him: "they're clean, dude!"

Aidan winced.

"Seriously," said Sally. "People are weird."

"You're preaching to the choir," Aidan told her, clambered to his feet. He left Sally and let himself into the house, pulling off his leather jacket and dropping it onto the couch as he went.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of the other female inhabitant of the house, and he swallowed painfully before quickly averting his eyes.

"Uh... Cat?"

"Mmm?"

On the floor – on the throw rug from the couch – Cat lay in a dusty sunbeam in her human form and without a stitch of clothing. At his voice, she'd rolled over to face him, stretching luxuriously.

Aidan glanced down and looked away again quickly. He made a twirling gesture in the air with his hand, staring into the middle distance. "Do you mind?"

Cat blinked sleepily and looked down at herself, then shot him an annoyed glance. "Fine," she grumped, transforming herself. Little Cat walked a circle on the throw rug and sprawled onto her side again, her black flank glossy in the afternoon light.

With a sigh, Aidan threw himself down onto the couch and covered his eyes with one hand. Cat's image remained, burning into his mind and for a moment he regretted insisting she change. For a moment, he wished he'd stripped bare himself and stretched out next to her… just stretch out in the warmth and perhaps trail his fingertips over her bare skin… cup a breast in his palm and see for himself whether her skin prickled with gooseflesh like a regular woman... whether her nipples puckered and hardened with desire when he pressed his lips to her throat...

He shifted uncomfortably on the couch, grimacing… then started, his eyes flying open as Little Cat jumped into his lap.

Purring loudly, the animal folded herself into a parcel, tucking her paws under her chest and wrapping her tail around them. She opened her eyes and gazed briefly into his startled face before closing them again, purring contentedly.

Aidan sat perfectly still. Hesitantly, he lowered one hand to her fragile skull, stroking the silky fur gently. He let out the breath he'd been holding.

"This is all kinds of wrong," he murmured to no one in particular.

_**Attacked Cat**_

"What?" Asked Sally. "Is he coming here?"

"No," said Cat, settling back into the couch. "It's Aidan."

Moments later, at Cat had predicted, the vampire came through the door. "Hey," he called.

"In here," Sally called back.

The smile died on his lips as he caught sight of Cat, wrapped in the throw rug from the couch, her hair dishevelled and trembling like a leaf. "What happened?" He asked.

"Some douche-bag tried to attack her…"

"What…"

"He jumped her coming home from store but she shifted before he had a chance to…"

"Were you there, Sally?" Aidan cut her off.

"Well, no, but…"

"Then let her tell it." He sat on the couch next to the trembling girl.

"No, it's okay," said Cat. One small emerged from the rug and she twined her fingers in his and held on for dear life. "It's like she said. This dick just grabbed me…" she rolled her eyes and two tears slid down her cheeks. "It was so stupid, I know I shouldn't cut down that alley but it's so much quicker…"

"It's okay," Aidan said softly.

"Then I shifted…"

"Scratched the shit out of him too!" Sally put in.

"Sally…" Aidan warned.

"Sorry…"

Aidan turned back to Cat. "Did he hurt you?" _If he did, I'll kill him_, he added silently. _Whoever he is…_

"No…"

Gently, Aidan pressed the fingers of his free hand against her chin and turned her head to the side. Dark purple bruises were beginning to develop on the delicate skin of her throat. Aidan's mouth thinned as he clenched his jaw.

"Son of a _bitch_!" Sally exclaimed.

"Did he see you after you shifted?" Aidan asked, taking his hand away from her face.

"I don't know," said Cat. "I don't think so… why? Do you think he might come for me?"

"I have no idea," said Aidan. "Probably not. Just some random dirt-bag..."

Nobody noticed Josh come in. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Cat and Aidan apparently holding hands on the couch.

"What's going on here?"

"Cat was attacked by some guy…"

Josh's face paled. "I'll kill him…"

"Get in line." Aidan threw him a look and Josh raised his eyebrows at him.

Sally rolled her eyes.

"Look, do you want me to take you to the hospital? I just came from there, the ER isn't too busy tonight…" said Josh.

"Josh…" Aidan warned.

"No," said Cat. "No hospitals, I just want to… be a cat for a while, okay? I'll heal faster that way…"

"Are you sure…?"

"Can I get you…?"

"No," she said firmly. She gently disengaged her fingers from Aidan's grip. "Just… leave it." She shifted and leapt lightly from the couch, pausing to shake herself and settle her fur before running up the stairs.

Josh watched her for a moment, his face a worried mask before catching Aidan's glare. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing," said Aidan, looking away. "Just leave her alone, okay?"

"Me? _I _didn't attack her? _You're_ the one with his hands all over her…"

"Oh my God," Sally mouthed, throwing her hands in the air. She turned on her heel and disappeared, leaving the boys sniping at one another.

# # #

Before retiring for the night, Aidan searched the house for the little black-and-white cat. He found Sally fiddling with her engagement ring as she sat on the stairs.

"Have you seen Cat?" He asked her.

"She's asleep on Josh's bed…"

Aidan pressed his lips together and frowned. "Of course she is," he murmured.

_**House Rules**_

It was Saturday evening and for once, everyone was home.

Aidan had returned from a shift at the hospital in a foul mood and flung himself onto the couch still dressed in full scrubs. After a time he picked up the newspaper on the coffee table and buried himself in it, not wanting to be alone, but not wanting to be disturbed either.

Josh had spent the afternoon assembling the bits and pieces he liked to have with him for the full moon, and thawing one of his rump roasts. Ray's legacy was an unspoken but unforgotten part of the household routine and while Josh never wanted to see his Maker again, he'd learned his lesson well and still abided by Ray's teachings.

Cat had spent the day in the kitchen preparing food enough for six people, although only two out of the four of them would eat it. The change was hard on Josh, she knew, and she didn't like to send him out on an empty stomach. She had ditched the Adidas gear in favour of a newly discovered love for designer skinny-jeans – so tight they might have been painted on – teamed with sequinned ballet flats and cute hoodie-tops. She liked to think of it as a happy and fashionable medium between sporty (which, let's face it, she wasn't), sexy (which she was) and functionally comfortable.

"Josh!" She called. "Dinner!" Cat poked her head into the lounge room. "You too, Aidan," she said softly.

Aidan didn't look up from his newspaper. "I'm not really in the mood for this game tonight."

"Please?"

Aidan glared at her for a moment. "Fine," he muttered, snapping the newspaper closed.

"Sally..."

"I'm here, I'm here!" The ghost bounced on her toes and skipped to the kitchen.

"What's _she_ so excited about?"

Cat grinned. "So, we have... five different types of roast vegetables, steamed baby peas with mint jelly, gravy – made from scratch, of course and..." she placed a fragrant platter in the middle of the table "... rolled-roast pork with crackling on the side!" She finished. She clasped her hands together, pleased with herself.

"Cat, you_ do_ know I'm Jewish, right?" Josh said gently.

Cat rolled her eyes. "What, you never got freaky on the Sabbath before?"

Josh gazed longingly at the roast. "It _does_ look good," he admitted.

"Of course it does, sit down." She looked up at Aidan, who was dragging his feet. "You too," she told him.

Aidan dragged out his chair and collapsed into it, staring miserably at the food in front of him.

Cat caught Sally's eye. "What the…?" She mouthed.

Sally made a shooing gesture. _Don't mind him_, it said. Cat ladled steaming red liquid into a bowl and sprinkled ivory rose petals as a garnish. "Lovely," Sally murmured, peering over her shoulder. She grinned at Cat.

"And, for the vampire in our midst…" Cat pronounced. "Fresh blood – piping hot – infused with rose petals." She placed the bowl in front of him with a flourish and handed him a soup spoon.

Aidan looked from Cat to Sally and back at Cat again, a half-smile on his face. "Are you serious?"

"Drained it myself," Cat told him.

"Out of the donor bag," Sally said hastily, noting his startled expression. "O-negative..." she wheedled. "Your favourite."

Aidan dipped his spoon into the blood and tasted. He had another spoonful. "This is really good," he said.

"Yay!" Sally clapped her hands and sat down on the chair Josh had pulled out for her.

"What made you think of _that_?" Josh asked, standing to carve the roast.

"Saw it on a television show," Cat told him, glancing at Sally. "_We_ saw it, I mean."

Aidan lowered his spoon. "What sort of cooking shows have you been watching?"

"Not cooking shows... 'True Blood'," said Cat. "It's on HBO..."

"But only the current season, we had to buy the DVD box set to go back and watch the first three seasons."

"Here..." Cat handed Aiden an Iphone showing a 'True Blood' website. "Season 3, Episode 3, this vampire..."

"Talbot..." Sally supplied the name.

"Talbot, right, makes all these different foods out of blood. The soup..."

"Frozen blood sorbet..."

"Chilled carbonated blood served in champagne glasses..."

"Oh, you know what we could try?" Exclaimed Sally, flapping her hand at Cat. "Blood, with vodka and Tabasco..."

"_Very _Bloody Mary!" Cat crowed. "That's genius!"

Aidan shook his head and passed the Iphone to Josh.

"_This_ is what you spend all day doing?" Josh asked. "Watching this stuff?"

"Well _that_," said Cat, "plus cooking and cleaning for _you_." She raised an eyebrow at him.

Josh nodded. "I withdraw my objection." He scrolled through the information. "Huh," he said, glancing at Aidan. "These vampires can't tolerate sunlight at all, but they are 'out of the coffin' have access to a synthetic blood substitute called 'Tru-blood'."

"That'd be handy," he said, watching the Iphone change hands back to Cat. "Where'd you get _that_?"

"I stole it..."

"You what...?"

"You can't...!"

"You didn't tell me..."

"Relax!" Cat raised her voice over the three of them. "I didn't _really_ steal it, I just... borrowed it," she told them. "I'll give it back tomorrow."

"Who did you 'borrow' it from?" Josh asked, making air quotes.

Cat studiously avoided Sally's eye. "Danny," she said quietly. She looked up at the ghost. "He left it on the kitchen bench when he was here the other day... he's not very careful about his things."

"Right," said Aidan, plucking the phone from Cat's hands. "I'll drop it back to him on the way to the hospital tomorrow."

"Let her keep it," Sally suggested. Aidan shot her a dark look. "It'd save her using all the broadband credit on your laptop... just sayin'..."

"Fine," Aidan sighed, handing the phone back. "But I want my VISA card back."

Josh stared at Cat as she pursed her lips, dug the card out of her back pocket and handed it over. He looked at Aidan. "You gave her your _VISA_ card?"

"I didn't_ give_ it to her," Aidan told him, avoiding his eye. "She lifted it out of my wallet and I... just didn't ask for it back."

"Right, that makes perfect sense," said Josh. "What are you, some sort of vampire door-mat now?"

"I'm not a door-mat..."

"Because this is really not like you..." he trailed off, looking around him as the house started to shake.

"Sally," Cat murmured.

"Sorry, it just happens..."

"Okay, just let's... settle down," Aidan suggested. "We're supposed to be having a nice meal together."

Josh glared at him for a moment, then took a deep breath and turned to Cat. "You can't just... 'borrow' things and spend other people's money," he told her gently. "It's not right."

"He's right, it's not," Aidan agreed. He rushed on when he saw Cat's lip start to tremble. "Look, I don't mind, I know you like nice things... but that's enough. No more shopping."

Cat pouted. "How am I supposed to buy groceries?"

"We'll give you money for that," he told her, holding his hand up as Josh opened his mouth. "But if you spend it all on clothes, Josh doesn't eat."

"How does _that _help?" Josh squawked, but Aidan ignored him.

He could see he'd hit the mark as Cat glanced at the other man. She could be lazy, egocentric and thoroughly hedonistic at times, but she'd formed a bond with the afflicted young man and Aidan knew Cat would revert to wearing Josh's old shirts and his own too-large underwear rather than see him go hungry.

As for the VISA card, he'd known it was missing and who'd taken it almost immediately but hadn't had the heart to deny her the things she'd been buying with it. Plus, since she hadn't returned it voluntarily, he could only assume she hadn't maxed it out yet.

_**Much To Celebrate**_

"Okay, here's fine," said Josh. He set the picnic basket on the sand and directed Aidan to spread the tartan blanket in the sun.

"You're being very mysterious," Sally commented, sinking to the ground with her legs crossed.

Josh smiled. "Some women find that alluring," he told her.

"I find it annoying," said Sally.

"Seinfeld," said Cat, pointing from Sally to Josh and back again.

Aidan rolled his eyes. "You guys watch way too much TV."

Cat tottered onto the rug and sat down, unlacing her shoes as she went. They looked like a combination spike-heeled ankle-boot and peep-toe kitten-heel. Cat brushed the sand from the soles of her feet, rolled her jeans up and set the shoes aside.

"They don't look very comfortable," Sally commented.

"They're not," said Cat, picking them up again. "But how _cute_ are they?"

"They're super-cute," Sally sighed, staring at her grey slippers glumly.

"Okay…" said Josh, rubbing his hands together. He pulled containers of roast chicken salad, bread rolls, cup cakes, pasta salad and numerous other items from the basket, including a thermos, plastic cups and a small bottle of champagne. "We have things to celebrate," he reminded them.

"Such as…?" Asked Cat.

"Well," said Josh, turning to Sally. "I heard on the grapevine that Danny's insurance company's giving him a hard time and, at least for the time being, won't pay him one red cent on the life insurance policy he took out on you."

"That _is_ cause to celebrate," Sally agreed.

"Aidan," Josh went on, "has just been made Head of Nursing at Suffolk County Hospital…"

"Which will mean longer hours, more responsibility and a shockingly small pay-rise," Aidan said. He twirled one finger in the air. "Woo-hoo."

"Still… yay!" Said Sally, clapping her hands.

"I – in addition to harming no-one when I changed last night – have just been accepted back into MIT to restart pre-Med…"

"That's great, Josh!" Aidan told him. He took the champagne bottle and popped the cork. "That really _is_ good news."

"And good on you not hurting anyone last night," Sally put in.

Cat smiled at the others and played with the edge of the rug, brushing away grains of sand. She didn't touch the champagne Josh had handed to her.

"And we also get to celebrate…" said Josh, turning to Cat "…Cat being with us for six months!"

"No, has it been that long?" Sally asked.

"Time flies…"

"Doesn't it though…"

"So let's eat," said Josh. He opened the Tupperware containers and broke a bread roll apart, stuffing it with chicken before cramming it into his mouth.

Cat picked up the thermos and held it out for Aidan. "I think this is supposed to be for you," she said.

"Mmm-hmm," Josh said around a mouthful of food. "I heated that up before we left…"

"Thanks…" Aidan trailed off and frowned. "Are you okay?" He asked Cat.

"Yeah…" Cat said, blinking down at her hand. "Sorry, I'm fine, I just…"

"Because it looked like you were about to shift…"

"Yeah, it… felt like it too." Cat rubbed the back of her hand where the tips of Aidan's fingers had brushed her skin.

"Don't go shifting in broad daylight, I don't want to have to explain why you just turned into a cat to a bunch of beach-combers," Josh warned.

Cat shot him an annoyed look. "I'm not going to shift, Josh, I don't shift unless I want to, remember?"

"Okay then…"

Cat dug into the pasta salad while Aidan poured steaming blood from the thermos into the little plastic mug. It was dark brown, almost the colour of coffee – Sally and Cat had been experimenting with dripping fresh blood through ground roasted coffee beans and the resulting formula had a distinctly bitter, aromatic flavour which Aidan enjoyed.

"How great is this sun!" Josh exclaimed, pulling his sweater off over his head and lying back on the sand. Cat smiled: she enjoyed seeing him so relaxed. The night after a change he still had plenty of energy and was in a good mood. His appetite was healthy and Cat felt a knot in her chest loosen, knowing it was now the longest possible time before he had to go through a change again.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Aidan unzipped his warm-up jacket, spread it out and lay back in the sun as Josh had done – hands behind his head and bare arms and shoulders flexed. His skin was pale, and smooth as alabaster. She felt the uncomfortable flicker again, as though she were about to shift, but the feeling passed. Aidan glanced up, pushing his sunglasses off to squint at her.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing," said Cat, looking away. "Uh… nobody would believe you're a vampire… sunning yourself like that."

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet," he told her, replacing the sunglasses and lying back again.

"You don't burn up in the sunlight," said Sally.

"You don't sleep in a coffin," put in Josh.

"You don't sparkle…" said Cat.

"Thank God for _that_," Aidan cut in, and they laughed.

"Ooh, but sparkles would go perfectly with your_ eyes_ and those_ cheekbones_, daaaarlink!" Josh cooed in falsetto and batted his eyelashes, then ducked as Aidan pegged a bread roll at him. He caught the second one on the fly and threw it back, clipping Cat on the shoulder.

Cat shrieked with laughter, covering her face with her hands as she felt sideways through Sally and into Aidan's arms. For a moment she felt her insides lurch like a tidal pull, then she disappeared in a pile of flattened clothes.

"Cat?" Aidan pushed the clothes aside. "Cat?" He sighed with relief as a little black-and-white head emerged. A growl rumbled in the back of her throat as the clothes twitched aside, her tail lashing back and forth.

"Jeez, did anyone see that?" Sally stared around.

"I don't think so," said Josh. He started throwing containers back into the basket. "Okay, Cat, hold that thought until we get back to the car!" He scooped the cat into his arms as Aidan collected her clothes, rolling them up in the blanket.

"I'll see you guys back at the house," said Sally, disappearing.

When they arrived home, Josh released the little cat and watched her dart up the stairs. "Okay, you go get dressed," he called. He turned to Sally. "What the hell was _that_ all about?"

Sally shrugged and shook her head.

A few minutes later, Cat padded down the steps in bare feet wearing her spare jeans and one of Josh's t-shirts. She sat at Sally's landing looking bewildered.

"Are you okay?" Josh asked, going to her.

"I'm fine… I have no idea why that happened," she told him. "I didn't do it deliberately, I swear."

"It's okay, we know you didn't…" Aidan said as he came in. At the sound of his voice, Cat shifted. The little black-and-white cat made an angry yowling noise and shifted back to human form.

"No!" She snarled through gritted teeth. "I will not…"

"Cat…" Aidan took a step towards her, his eyes wide.

The girl shifted back to cat form, to human, and back to cat again. With a howl, she forced her form back to human again.

"Holy crap…" Sally whispered.

Trembling all over, her bare skin slick with sweat and her hair hanging in strings, Cat raised her head. Her eyes found Aidan's for a moment and held them, then with a cry she shifted back to her cat form and streaked up the stairs.

Josh, Sally and Aidan stared after her for a moment, and then Josh bounded up the stairs after her.

_**The Heat of the Night**_

Sally and Aidan looked up as Josh came back down the stairs.

"Is she okay?" Sally asked.

"Yeah... no... not really," said Josh. He turned to Aidan. "She says she can't hold her shape around _you_ at the moment." He shrugged.

"Me?" Aidan asked. "What do _I _have to do with it?"

Josh shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Sally began to smile. She looked at Aidan and giggled, pressing one hand to her mouth. "Oh my God!" She said, her voice muffled. "I get it!"

"You do?" Asked Josh.

Sally laughed out loud.

"Would you mind letting us in on it?" Aidan asked.

"No," said Sally, getting to her feet. "I want to go talk to her first. Where is she?" She asked Josh.

"In the attic." Josh gestured at the ceiling.

Sally disappeared, rematerialising in the attic. She followed the sound of sobbing until she found the girl curled up on a pile of old quilts, crying softly.

"Cat? The guys are really worried. You okay, honey?"

"No," came the muffled reply.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I'm a freak of nature!" Cat pronounced dramatically. Sally raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm... even more of a freak than I was before!" She declared, bursting into fresh tears.

Sally sat next to her while she sobbed, wishing she could pat her back or offer a Kleenex or anything other than just sit quietly and wait. Eventually, Cat looked up, sniffling and pushing the tears off her cheeks with her fingertips.

"I can't hold my shape," she whispered. "Why can't I hold my shape around him?"

"Aidan, you mean?"

Cat nodded and her face dissolved again, her form flickered to cat and back to human again.

"Cat," said Sally. "Can you tell me how you feel about _Josh_?" She held up one hand as the other woman stared in astonishment. "I'm going somewhere with this, I promise."

"Um." Cat wiped her face again. "Okay. Well, Josh..." she smiled warmly. "I love Josh, he's like a big ole puppy dog! He makes me feel safe." She sat up and wrapped one of the quilts around her bare shoulders. "When I was a kitten I had a littermate..." she looked up and Sally nodded for her to go on. "Well, he was a lot bigger than me but I was faster, _and_ a better hunter. But one day he caught a bird..." Cat laughed at the memory. "Our mother thought that perhaps the bird flew right into his mouth, but he caught that bird fair and square! I'd never caught a bird, only mice and rats. So I... I took it and ran away from him."

She looked up at Sally, her face sober. Sally gestured encouragingly.

"Well, he came after me and took the bird back... and boxed my ears for me..."Cat trailed off and rubbed the back of her head, wincing at the memory. "But after that, he shared the bird with me." She smiled. "Josh is like that. He looks after me and shares what he has... and he kicks my butt for me when I'm being... you know..."

"He's like a big brother," Sally said.

"Yes," Cat agreed. "That would be the human way of looking at it. Yes."

"Okay," Sally said slowly. "Now... how do you feel about... Aidan?"

Cat drew in a quick breath and shifted to her feline form, back to human, back to cat and then to human again. She gasped as she struggled to hold her human form, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Okay! Okay!" Sally held up her hands. "Okay, let's just leave Aidan for a moment! Just settle down and... um... breathe..." She demonstrated a deep cleansing breath and watched Cat carefully as she settled the quilt around her again, holding like a shield against the rest of the world. "Okay?"

Cat nodded, her green eyes still round.

"Right," said Sally. "So, remember when you told us how you shift into human form when you go into heat to avoid the Tom cats?"

Cat nodded again. "Uh huh."

"That's been, like, you're best defence mechanism over the years, right?" She waited while Cat nodded a third time. "So, do you understand what actually happens when a female cat goes into heat?"

"Biologically, you mean?" Cat asked. "Hormonally? Physiologically?"

"Yes..." said Sally, frowning a little. "All those things..."

"Of course. Gonadotropic hormones rise and ovarian follicles mature, estrogen levels are at their highest and the female exhibits the lordosis reflex in preparation for mating..."

"Right..." said Sally. She hadn't followed most of what Cat had said, but it had sounded plausible. "And do you understand female _human_... uh..."

"Reproduction?" Cat said. "It's not all that different. Females are in heat once a month, although they ovulate spontaneously, and at that time their vaginal passages produce additional lubrication, the external genitalia become filled with blood, they produce pheromones to attract a mate, and..."

"Yes," said Sally, cutting her off. "What you just said..."

"But also..." Cat frowned. "A human female will release pheromones when she sees a male she wants to couple with, regardless of whether she's in heat or not..." She trailed off and looked up at Sally, her eyes wide. Sally grinned at her. "You think I can't hold my shape because I'm in heat and I want to couple with Aidan?" She asked.

Sally's smiled faltered a little. "Well, yes, probably... I wouldn't have put it that way myself..."

"Well, how would_ you_ put it?"

"I think you can't hold your shape around Aidan at the moment," Sally said softly, "because you're in love with him."

Cat stared at her for a moment, then snorted. "Don't be absurd!"

Sally spread her hands wide and raised her eyebrows at her.

Cat rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously," said Sally. "Look, think about this... carefully, without shifting... think about how you _feel _about Aidan."

Cat regarded her stonily for a moment. "Okay," she murmured.

"Okay," Sally echoed. "Tell me..."

Cat's form flickered for a moment. "Aidan is... _beautiful_..." she breathed. "Those eyes and that smile! And that thing he does with his mouth when he's trying_ not _to smile. And those... _dimples_ when he smiles..." Her eyes rolled back a little and she flickered and held again. "And when he's naked..." She changed completely this time, a small black-and-white cat for a moment then back to human again.

"Okay!" Sally held up one hand looking mildly nauseated. "I don't even want to know how you know something like that!"

"Oh, like _you've _never peeked..."

"Ew..."

Cat raised an eyebrow at her.

"Seriously, he's a lovely guy and all but he looks like Danny's douche-bag brother!" Sally told her. "So I stand by my 'ew' on the 'peeking at Aidan naked' argument!"

Cat rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "Where was I?"

"You were extravagantly extolling Aidan's many virtues…"

"Right… and he just makes me laugh, sometimes! And those dimples, when he smiles!" Cat smiled. "He has such a dry sense of humour. And he wants to badly to do good," Cat went on. "He takes care of Josh and works so hard to be a good person and not give in to what he is but he's so... so fragile and damaged and... beautifully broken..." Tears formed in her eyes. "And lost. But when he smiles... those dimples..."

"Yeah, I think you mentioned them," Sally said drily. She smiled at Cat. "You still think you're not in love with him?"

Cat rolled her eyes, swiping at the tears. "What does it matter, anyway?" She said. "He couldn't possibly..."

"Feel the same way?" Sally suggested. "Why not?"

Cat regarded her carefully and spoke as though she were addressing a toddler. "I'm... a... cat..." she said slowly.

"He's... a... vampire," Sally retorted just as slowly. "Which means he can't knock you up for starters. Which is one of the reasons why you shift to human, right? To avoid the Toms?"

"Yes..."

"And he can't hurt you. You can move faster than him, shift faster than he can bite..."

"Because shifting and becoming a cat during sex would be _such_ a turn on..."

"You know what I mean," said Sally. "All I'm saying is... it's not such a stretch. I mean, you _are_ gorgeous... you_ do_ know that, right?"

Cat shot her a look of pure derision. "Of course," she said. "I am even more beautiful than he is!"

Sally pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "And for some unfathomable reason, this whole narcissistic thing you've got going on doesn't make him want to slap you, so..."

"Ha ha."

"Another thing," said Sally. Cat narrowed her eyes at her. "You've been thinking and talking about Aidan for the last five minutes... and you haven't shifted once."

Cat looked down at herself. She turned her hands over and inspected her perfectly manicured nails, then pressed her fingertips to her face.

"Would you at least go and talk to him?" Sally asked.

Cat rolled her eyes, but she smoothed her hair and wrapped one of the quilts around her body and got to her feet.

# # #

Cat tapped on Josh's bedroom door.

"Come in..." She poked her head around the door and smiled at Josh, who was sitting up in bed. "Hey," he said, setting aside his book. "You okay, now?"

Cat nodded. "Me and Sally, we had a good chat."

"And Aidan...?"

"I'm gonna go... talk... to him now."

"Okay," said Josh. "Go easy on him..."

Cat smiled. "I will."

She closed Josh's door and turned to Aidan's. Taking a deep breath, she knocked and let herself into the deep purple room without invitation before she lost her nerve.

Aidan set aside the shoes he'd just removed and regarded her carefully. "Hi," he said.

"Hi."

They stared sheepishly at one another for a moment.

"Look, Cat, if I've done anything wrong, I'm really..." he trailed off and his eyes widened "...sorry..." he finished quietly.

Cat had dropped the quilt on the floor and stood before him, naked.

Aidan nodded. "Okay," he said.

# # #

Afterwards, as Aidan dozed, Cat gently disengaged herself and crept to the end of his bed. Shifting, she stretched each limb and arched her back, settling back into her comfortable cat's body which was so much stronger and lither than her human form. She turned her head around and started with one long lick down her back.

Her mother had been right. Post-coital washing was the best washing of all.


End file.
